The light of Konoha
by Scornath
Summary: Kakashi is sent on a mission to gain the aid of Konoha's oldest ally.
1. Chapter 1

AN: This is my first time trying any kind of creative writing so Ill happily accept any feedback you may offer!

This is a story based on an idea I had reading all these harry transported to the narutoverse fanfics. what if he came a lot earlier, what if he came as a fully trained wizard?

Hikari of Konoha

The village of Konoha, livelier than most of the hidden villages. If you were to ask why this is, the answer you would receive would differ greatly depending whom you asked. Were you to ask the Hokage, he would tell you it's because the will of fire burns so brightly in its people.

The Hokage is the kind of man who believes in the good of people and loves every member of his village. The Hokage like most shinobi knows the value of secrets and disinformation.

Secrets in Shinobi villages rarely remain such for long and are therefore classified by importance, starting at D and going up to A with S being a special class of secrets that are only ever accessible to the elder council. Unfortunately, even such secrets eventually leak.

What makes Konoha special in this regard is that they have a "true secret" meaning it cannot be shared. Only the Hokage has access to this secret he cannot share.

Not will not share or is unwilling to share, but physically cannot share.

This has him quite frustrated at this moment because of his inability to enforce the other side of the contract that binds him to silence. With the downfall of the strongest clan in Konoha, the village is vulnerable.

The military might of Konoha was the only deterrence stopping the start of another Shinobi world war. Now, even its allies are flexing their political muscles and throwing veiled threats around.

The contract in front of him could fix this, as it binds a powerful ally to Konoha and could keep it from being destroyed.

The Hokage speaks aloud to the seemingly empty room.

"Inu, could you join me please?"

A lone figure wearing a porcelain mask and black robes appears in the middle of the room without a sound and kneels before the old man behind the desk.

"Hokage-Sama?"

"the rest of you are dismissed."

A breeze blows through the room and out a window that was closed a second ago. The old man glances meaningfully in the direction of the shadows beneath a window and speaks again.

"That means you too, tell Danzo I will discuss this matter with him personally when I can."

When he is confident they are alone he activates the ancient protections placed on the office and they can speak privately, a rare thing in the shinobi world.

"Kakashi san, I have a special mission for you."

The man in the black robes stands and removes his hood and porcelain mask to reveal a single smiling eye and a mane of silver hair, the rest of his face hidden behind cloth mask and an angled hitai ate.

While the old man knows he cannot share the secret he still tries, and his tongue starts cramping painfully in response.

"HNN-Grlable"

"Hokage-sama, are you alright?"

The old man scowls at the contract on the desk in front of him and answers.

"no Kakashi san, but I think we the document in front of me can fix that."

Kakashi simply flashes an eye-smile and looks down to the Hokage's desk, only to find a very old but very blank piece of parchment.

"it's empty…"

The Hokage scowls at the contract again and sighs deeply.

"no it's not... it is however, protected"

"protected how?" Kakashi asks somewhat indulgently.

"I can't explain it, perhaps if I write it down…" The Hokage grabs a blank scroll and a brush and scribbles for a moment. Once finished looks over his work with a pleased smile and hands the scroll to the younger man.

Kakashi looks down at the scroll and after a moment looks up at the Hokage and asks?

"are you sure about this Hokage-sama?"

"Of course I am certain!"

Kakashi sighs deeply and says "you are a meddling old fool and should keep your nose out of other people's business."

"How dare you speak to me like that? We have to do this for the good of the village!"

Kakashi smiles his eye-smile and answers, scratching the back of his head "I am simply following your instructions Hokage-sama." He then gestures to the scroll in his hand.

"What? Give me that!" The Hokage snatches the scroll back and reads. " _Tell the Hokage that he is a meddling old fool and should keep his nose out of other people's business."_

The Hokage scowls deeply at the scroll, he seems to be scowling at a lot of paper lately, and says. "I should have known it wouldn't be that simple…"

"I'm going to have to be vague it seems…" The Hokage takes a moment to gather his thoughts and starts slowly.

"kakashi… Konoha has a powerful ally," The old man taps the tattered piece of parchment in front of him meaningfully. "to help in times of need. Recruit Jiraya and make use of his spy network to bring this ally to me. Unfortunately, little was ever known of this ally, some has been lost to time and what little I have I cannot tell you." The Hokage lights his pipe and seems lost in thought for a moment.

Kakashi feels his shoulders drop with every sentence and frowns deeply. "not much to go on, is it?"

"Hokage-sama, the… contract seems very old, can we be sure this ally is even still alive?"

"that's it!" the Hokage exclaims and smacks the table in triumph. "if our ally had perished, the protections would likely have broken. I believe age is the way you will find our ally. This document has been in the possession of every Hokage since the founding of Konoha. Investigate tales of long lived old men."

"Hnn, that could work." Kakashi agreed, scratching his chin.

The Hokage gives a content smile, deactivates the privacy barrier and puffs his pipe. "you should go Kakashi, good luck!"

Kakashi replaces his mask and hood and with a bow and a swirling of leaves vanishes from the office.

* * *

Jiraya was really enjoying himself when that silver haired brat had to ruin everything.

They had agreed to meet there for dinner but as there was no sign of him he decided to get started by himself.

There he was, several hours later, his arm trapped between the shapely thighs of the buxom blonde he was serving sake to while enjoying the neck rub the tall brunette in his lap was giving him.

Then that bastard Kakashi had to come and utterly destroy the mood by having those dogs of his rushing through the place, flipping tables and scratching the carpeting.

Standing there in the centre of the chaos he brought, dripping with insincerity.

"ah, sorry I'm late, I had to help a dog over the street and this stray old lady started following me…"

Jiraya sighs deeply, he won't be welcome back there again…

To be fair it did get him out of paying and the kid did swipe a couple of bottles so he can't be too hard on the brat. The night is nice and the sake is still good so Jiraya decides curiosity trumps any regrets he might have about the direction his evening is headed.

"Ne Gaki! why did ya hafta screw that up for me this time!?"

Kakashi flashes an eye-smile at his elder over his small cup.

"Please relax Jiraya-sama, there are plenty of gentlemen's clubs in tea-country, being banned from one won't hurt much."

"There was a special mission request from the Hokage, and I have need of your spy-network. You heard about the recent tragedy?"

Jiraya's face takes on a sombre look, contrasting his sake flushed cheeks starkly.

"aye, It's true then? An entire clan slaughtered, by a child no less?"

Kakashi nods and takes another sip through the small hole in his facemask.

"Uchiha Itachi, a recent addition to ANBU, only been a Chuunin for a year before they swiped him up. You know better than most the position the loss of our strongest clan has put us in, especially so soon after the Kyuubi attack. We need to be perceived as strong again before someone tries to take advantage of our position."

Jiraya nods and takes a deep swallow from the bottle he has been nursing.

"And the Hokage believes he has found a way to accomplish this?"

"yes, apparently there is an ally we are to recruit. A very old man by the sound of things."

Jiraya looks up one eyebrow raised and gives Kakashi an incredulous look.

"An old ally… What do we have to work with?"

Kakashi's eye-smile grows and he simply answers.

"that's it!"

"Watta ya mean that's it? That's all we have to go on to find this Fossil?"

"Well, we do know he was at least recognised as an adult seventy-four years ago during the founding of Konoha."

"how do ya figure that?"

Kakashi scratched his chin contemplatively.

"as far as I can tell from my meeting with the Hokage, this ally signed a contract that only a the current Hokage can read. The third then told me it's been in the possession of every Hokage, so I figure he must have signed it with Harashima Senju."

"well shit, he's gotta be at least in his nineties then? Is he gonna be in any shape to help like that?"

"Dunno, but the Hokage seems to think so, maybe there is something in the contract he can't mention? Does not really matter to us though, we have to find him either way."

* * *

(Sometime later)

"Hey Old-timer, You sure about this?"

The shrivelled old man sitting on his grandson's shoulders shakes his fist in agitation and nearly falls.

"There's nothing wrong with my memr'y yet brat! I'm tellin ya fifty-eight years ago, this brat barges into my shop complaining about the heat. He then tries to seduce my Minako-chan and- "The man's grandson jostles his shoulders and looks up at his grandfather."

"Jiji, you have only been married for fifty-one years remember, we celebrated your fiftieth anniversary last year. Half the village was there."

"There's nothing wrong with my memr'y yet brat! She was always **my** Minako-chan, don't let her tell ya otherwise. Now shaddap and let me tell the story!"

The old man slaps his chest dramatically and almost falls again.

"Now lemme tell ya, this kid has the nerve to tell my wife" this punctuated with a sharp kick to his grandson's side. "to bake him pastry! Who does that?! What kind of bastard demands pastries from another man's wif-"

"Stop yer shoutin ye shrivled prune!"

Shouting at the tiny man on his grandson's shoulders, a very large woman in her late sixties comes running out of the small inn hefting a ladle like a mace over her head.

"Yer tellin the story wrong, that's not what happened at all! I was flirting with him; you were just the creepy owner trying to take advantage of the pretty new waitress. Anyway, he asked what kinds of sweets we sold and ordered dango, when I brought them out I asked if they were his favorite. He told me he liked em enough but his favourite was this tart I never heard of so I asked him for a recipe and hinted we might start making it if it was well received. At this point I was doing anything to get him to come back and visit us again, I was completely smitten with those dreamy green eyes."

The very large woman hugged herself at this point and shivered visibly.

"he did get me that recipe and the Syrup tart sells quite well, he still has us deliver a batch to his home every week, even though nobody has seen him for many years. The money is always waiting on the porch with a little handwritten note."

Jiraya was grimacing at the woman's statuesque frame the entire time but managed to school his features as she finished her story.

"do you think you could show us where he lives?" he asked the gathered people.

The tiny old man dug his feet into his grandson and shook his fist at Jiraya.

"Whatta ya want with that no good wifestealer?! We aint going there for a long while so ya gotta wait- "

"but Jiji, we are supposed to make the next delivery this afternoon, did you forget?"

"There's nothing wrong with my memr'y yet brat!"

The old man sighs dramatically "Fine, ya can come but ya better behave!"

A few hours later they were on their way, Jiraya and Kakashi acting as escort and following in the trees.

"Jiraya-sama, it's been a year since we got sent on this fool's errand. Besides they described a kid they saw last fifty years ago. He would have been too young to be the one we're looking for."

"Where is the trust gone? Perceptions shift over the years; they were probably exaggerating."

Pretty soon they arrived at a large clearing with a small one story house at the other end, the house had a large porch surrounding it made in a light wood. There was a strange sense about the place, something almost ethereal or otherworldly.

As they approached there were several signs stuck in the ground along the path leading up to the house. The first sign read:

"No solicitors, No Fanatics, No help wanted."

The next sign stated:

"Enter, stranger, but take heed of what awaits the sin of greed, for those who take, but do not earn, must pay most dearly in their turn. So if you seek beneath our floors A treasure that was never yours, Thief, you have been warned, beware of finding more than treasure there."

"Well, that's weird… Do you think he's expecting thieves?" Kakashi tilts his head as he reads.

"It gets worse boya!" The old man nearly falls again in his exited shouting.

The following sign reads: "Never tickle a sleeping dragon!"

"He sure has a flair for dramatics, remind you of anyone Jiraya-sama?" Kakashi asked, happy eye-smile firmly in place.

Jiraya simply grumbles and picks up the pace. Soon they reach the last sign, nailed to the porch railing, it reads:

"Only Treacle Tart beyond this point! That means no Shinobi! I'm talking to you, Cyclops and Kabuki! Last warning!"

The large man carrying the tarts and his grandfather bends down to study the sign.

"That's strange, it didn't have that last part when we were here before."

Jiraya took an offended pose and pointed at the sign dramatically.

"Who is a Kabuki!?"

"bwahahaha, maybe I was mistaken, kids got a sense of humor!" The old man finally fell from his grandson's back laughing.

Kakashi simply sat back on his haunches and studied the porch for traps. The large man picked up the note and counted the money before putting down the tarts.

By this point Kakashi had decided no traps were to be found and stood again wiping non-existent dust from his pants. Meanwhile the tiny old man, still giggling, was being picked up by his grandson.

The mismatched pair quickly turns to leave money in hand.

A few minutes pass and then with a faint pop of displaced air a young man appears on the porch in front of the tarts. There was no sense of movement or any early warning that he was coming the way shunshin appears to trained shinobi.

Jiraya and Kakashi both fell into a defensive stance and started assessing the threat.

The young man was wearing a thin white cotton haori jacket and a pair of wide white shorts underneath. When he bent to pick up the tarts the jacket flapped open to reveal he was bare underneath and briefly flashed a tattoo of some kind done in geometrical shapes.

As he righted himself, the young man finally noticed the two men stationed at his porch in combative stances.

"oh? You're still here?" He took a moment to study the two men and turned to the sign, pausing to read. He turned back snickering slightly once more looking Jiraya over before glancing at Kakashi and frowning.

"damn sign is malfunctioning again…" he once more turns and this time slaps the sign with a resounding thwack! "Oy! He's clearly just hiding his other eye you broken piece of firewood!"

Suddenly the sign flashes a bright white and changes to read: "Only Treacle Tart beyond this point! That means no Shinobi! I'm talking to you, Shy guy and Kabuki! Last warning!"

The young man hums and after a moment nods decisively before turning back to the two men.

"forgive my rudeness, I had to discipline the sign for misbehaving. Now, what can I do for you?"

Kakashi was the first to compose himself and simply waved away any notion that anything out of the ordinary had occurred. "oh no, we were just curious after hearing the syrup tart story and wanted to see the old man that came up with the recipe."

"really? You sure there is no other reason two shinobi, from Konohagakure no Sato, found their way here?"

The young man eyed them sceptically for a moment before sighing and taking a seat on the porch.

"damn, I knew this treacle addiction would eventually be my undoing… Well you found me, might as well take a seat and try the tart while you tell me why you're really here?"

The young man gestured with his empty hand and a low table appeared on the porch. The youth busied himself with unpacking the tart and paid no mind to the two gaping shinobi.

Both caught their chins and quickly tried to dispel the illusion without results... Jiraya shot a glance at Kakashi who seemed just as stunned. Apparently that was not one of the many techniques the copy-ninja had encountered before. All the more intriguing was that the lad had done it without handseals.

"That was some jutsu lad" Jiraya said a genial smile on his face as he moved to touch the table. Confirming that it in fact was real wood. He waved Kakashi over and they each took a seat at the newly appeared table.

"You could call it a part of my bloodline limit, that's the only way I managed to explain it to shinobi before…" The young man made another vague hand gesture and the syrupy tart he had finished unpacking split into pieces, three of which began to hover toward each seated man and just as they were about to land, small flowery plates appeared beneath them.

"Now, why have you come to visit?"


	2. Chapter 2

An: This chapter highlights how Harry came to be in the Elemental Nations and shows some of his involvement previously.

* * *

Konoha no Hikari

Harry Potter was incredibly bored. Earth had become a dried, lifeless husk once countless wars had eliminated the last of humanity and left the master of death alone. His boredom was occasionally relieved for a few moments when **somewhere in the multiverse** , someone managed to summon death.

This was usually an attempt to make a deal for a soul or to make an offering. Occasionally the summoner would have something more interesting in mind. This was the case when Harry found himself in Uzushiogakure of the elemental kingdoms.

Harry gave himself tasks to alleviate his constant boredom. Currently he was reshaping the mountain that was once Australia into giant lettering facing into space, spelling out HELP! He was achieving this with a combination of well-placed reducto-curses and vanishing spells to get rid of the debris.

Harry was just putting the finishing touches on the P when he felt the pull from death that meant he was needed to make a deal with a mortal for something. Harry relaxed into the pull and drew on the power of the hallows to shield him from view when he arrived.

Harry appeared invisibly outside Uzushiogakure under the full moon. Next to him he found the avatar of death that had been summoned to this realm. Death always took on the shape that the person summoning it expected it to. Harry looked death over and nearly flinched from its grizzly appearance.

Their idea of death was apparently a demonic looking man with horns, fangs and a wild white mane. His skin was a deep purple and he was wearing a loose white robe and holding prayer beads while biting into a long bladed knife.

Harry turned to look at the gathering that had managed to summon his servant. They were a collection of men and women arranged in a semicircle around Death's avatar. The only thing they had in common was a piece of metal with a spiral adorning them. Most wore these on the forehead but some wore them as a belt or on their sleeves. Harry transfigured a robe of his own in the same style that the avatar of Death wore. Donning the white robes, Harry decided to be theatrical and while invisible cast a large area Lumos between him and the congregation, making sure to keep it bright without it being blinding. Harry then removed the invisibility and stepped through the Lumos before letting it dim. Giving the appearance of having stepped through the light as a method of travel.

The collective gasps were satisfying enough to bring a smirk to his lips. Harry crossed his arms and as Death knelt at his side, he spoke in an ominous voice. "Why do you summon the master of Death?"

A tall man with a square beard and a serious expression stepped forward, his greying hair swaying in the breeze as he knelt. Harry immediately took notice of the twin swords with curved handles sticking up behind his shoulders. The man wore the same kind of polished, dark blue, leather armour over black robes as a few among the gathered people. As the man knelt the rest of the congregation followed and the man spoke.

"I am Ashina Uzumaki, leader of our clan and the one to summon you. We wish to ensure the survival and continuation of our clan and are willing to strike a bargain. What do you ask? If we can provide it, we will."

Harry pondered this for a moment before dragging a hand through his perpetually messy hair.

"Your request is certainly achievable as it needs not break the balance of Life and Death." Harry palmed his knees and went into a crouch so his face was level with the kneeling man. Ashina tensed at the motion and looked up into emerald orbs shining faintly as if backlit with some otherworldly fire. Harry grinned widely at the man and spoke.

"Ashina Uzumaki, thank you for giving your name." The way his name was spoken with exactly the same inflections and rhythm that Ashina himself would use when stating it. He felt this being somehow gained some measure of power over him, and it sent a shiver down his spine.

"Could you modify the ritual that brought me here to make it permanent? The place I come from is awfully boring, this place seems interesting."

Ashina blinked twice at the powerful being's surprisingly friendly demeanour before composing himself and returning a tentative smile and stating. "I believe it's possible, we would need something to tie you to this realm."

* * *

Many years later Harry had gotten quite comfortable with his new home. He especially enjoyed the hot springs scattered throughout the elemental kingdoms. Harry spent the most of his time traveling, seeing as much as possible of his new home, treating his stay as an extended vacation. He only stopped to earn enough to continue his journey. While he took various jobs, he earned the most through the magical fireworks he would sell after putting on displays at various festivals. He got the fireworks initial design from his favourite pair of pranksters, but made them his own over time.

His favourite books after leaving Hogwarts were authored by Tolkien, and were his original inspiration to earn money while traveling in this way. Unfortunately, he never could grow a very good beard.

Harry was lounging on the porch of the small resort he was staying at when he felt something akin to a centipede crawling up his spine. The sensation letting him know that the seal keeping him here was in danger of fading. This could only mean the Uzumaki clan was in danger of being eradicated. He was not quite ready to end his extended vacation in the elemental kingdoms so he apparated to Uzushiogakure to find the source of the danger.

He arrived in the middle of a warzone, massive Jutsus clashing and sending people flying. Harry, not having any background to the reason of the conflict and not having been in Uzushio for a long time had no way of identifying who were Uzumaki and who were from the other clans of Uzushio. Harry panicking slightly at the idea of being sent back to earth, started shouting. "Uzumaki!" He got the reaction he wanted from a six-year old girl with auburn hair who had been ducking behind an overturned table. Clearly startled, she looked up and met his eyes across the battlefield. He ran to her side and ducking down with her asked gently. "Uzumaki-chan?" She simply nodded and with a smile he grabbed her hand and apparated her to the shores of the fire kingdom. She promptly emptied her stomach on his sandals and looked up to him fearfully. "don't worry little Uzumaki, you should be safe here until I can find you an adult." He patted her head and apparated back to Uzushio. Realizing he could not continue to be that elaborate, he simply started to apparate every civilian he could see to the shores, near where he had left the little redhead.

After a while it became clear he could not save any more people. The feeling of tiny legs climbing up his spine had turned into a slow trickle, meaning he was out of immediate danger of being sent back.

Harry returned to the shore to make sure the refugees where alright, they weren't… of course they weren't, they just lost their home and without any of their shinobi there, they were without leadership. Harry had never liked the spotlight so he made sure to stay in the background while thinking of a simple solution in case none of their shinobi manage to make it of the island.

Too deep in his musings at the edge of the treeline, Harry never noticed the little redhead bounding up to him, her eyes welling with as yet unshed tears.

"Ossan! Who the hell d'ya think ya are to fling people around like that!?" When Harry didn't immediately respond she promptly kicked him in the shin, hard. "Oy Ossan, where are my parents? Wh- why didn't ya bring them?!" the tiny girl punctuated every word with a punch or a kick to Harrys legs, tiny fists coming dangerously close to his crotch a few times.

Harry quickly knelt and embraced the distraught girl who promptly collapsed into great wracking sobs against his chest. Harry held onto the sobbing girl as best he could and rubbed small circles in her back, not offering any empty platitudes or assurances. Just letting the girl process the pain in her own time.

By this time Harry was getting uncomfortably aware of the fact that it had gotten quite quiet on the beach. He looked up and sighed deeply as he confirmed silently that he still didn't like being in the spotlight.

The ruffled and distraught gathering of refugees were all eyeing him, some in awe or gratitude, others with distrust, all of them with questioning eyes. Harry cleared his throat, a rough grating sound in the uneasy silence that had settled.

"While I'm sure you all have questions…" harry paused, unsure how to continue. "Our first priority should be to ensure your continued survival, I will bring what provisions I can gather and return as soon as possible. There is no dangerous wildlife in the immediate area but don't wander too deep into the forest. You will need clean water."

The girl had stopped sobbing at this point but was still burrowed deep into his chest, his robes in her tiny fists. Harry stopped rubbing her back and pointed his palm towards a nearby boulder, transfiguring it into a large basin, and filled it with a whisper of "Aquamenti" to a chorus of shocked gasps. Harry continued to transfigure a second boulder into cups and bowls.

Harry addressed the girl clutching his robes in a soft murmur. "what is your name little Uzumaki?" She replied with a sniffled "Kushina…"

"that's a very pretty name. I'm Hikari,"

Harry had quickly learned that a new name was preferable to having his first one mangled every time someone addressed him.

The name actually came from a stubborn child who liked his fireworks and when he grimaced at the pronunciation of his name, the boy had promptly decided he needed a better name and named him Kirei Hikari-San. From what Harry could gather he had meant to call him mister pretty lights. But he figured Hikari was close enough to Harry to get used to.

Harry spoke up again, getting the attention of the refugees away from the water basin and transfigured cups. "Does anyone know little Kushina Uzumaki here?"

After an uncomfortable moment a young woman stepped fourth. "I'm Hana, I used to babysit Kushina from time to time."

Harry gently untangled Kushina's hands from his robes and looked her in the eyes as he spoke. "Kushina, do you think you'll be okay with Hana while I go get you all something to eat?"

She looked back at Hana for a moment before facing Harry again and nodding decisively and turning fully and running into Hana's waiting arms. Harry rose and disapparated.

* * *

Appearing at the edge of the forest outside Konoha, Harry quickly proceeded to the nearest gate and the checkpoint. There he was greeted by a young chuunin who introduced himself as Sinku Yuhi.

Shinku had black hair, and very distinctive ringed, red eyes. He wore his Hitai ate as a bandana and had a katana strapped to the back of his chuunin-vest. Harry quickly explained he had a very urgent mission for Konoha and that lives were at stake. He was promptly escorted to the Hokage's office where he waited to be announced.

Harry was starting to get agitated when he finally was told the Hokage was expecting him. He was ushered into the office of the middle-aged second Hokage who was perched behind his desk with a harsh look in his eyes.

Tobirama Senju was always a very serious man, the death of his brother some fifteen years ago only made him more so.

With a severe look he took a moment to examine the young man who had just entered his office. He wore a plain white cotton Yukata with the Uzumaki swirls in black on either side of the chest. The robe was loosely fastened and revealed a bit of the youth's chest and an odd tattoo of a bisected circle inside a triangle. The hair of the youth was so messy it seemed to have a life of its own, and would move as if winds were blowing in the office. He had a jagged scar above one eyebrow, it was faded and seemed quite old. Most noticeable about him however were his eyes. They were sharp and a deep emerald green, that seemed to glow with barely restrained power.

The young man's appearance was certainly distinctive to Tobirama, it brought back a flash of a memory from his youth. But he quickly disregarded that notion, the man was much too young.

Harry tried to tell himself that the staring didn't bother him anymore. He was several hundred years old and knew that the Hokage was not staring at the boy-who-lived but simply accessing the man who had come before him requesting aid. He knew this on an intellectual level but it still got on his nerves whenever people stared at him. He was restraining himself, it would not be wise to offend the Hokage just before asking for his help.

Tobirama noticed the man was starting to get agitated under his scrutiny and decided to be nice. "What brings you here? Young Sinku informed me it was quite urgent."

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice Hokage-sama. My name is Hikari Uzumaki, I stand before you because Uzushiogakure has been attacked. I want to hire Konoha to lend its aid to the refugees. Some are gathered at the shores of the Fire-nation. This group of refugees have fresh water and shelter; they will be fine for the moment. More urgent is finding any other survivors and making sure they are all taken care of. Please contact this bank for payment, I will make sure they know to pay the bill from you."

Harry pulls out a small scroll and scribbles down his account information, and after a moments consideration sketches a small map, marking where the refugees are gathered. Harry hands the scroll to the Hokage. "I marked down the location of the refugees, is there anything else you need to get started on this?"

Tobirama frowned deeply at the terrible news. "Uzushio has always been allies to Konoha. We will not need payment to lend our aid, rest assured we will find any survivors and make sure they are all taken care of."

Harry sighed in relief but insisted. "Consider the money a refugee fund then. I want to make sure they get all the help they can and want for nothing. If you would excuse me Hokage-sama, I need to make sure the refugees are fed." Harry bowed and made his way out of the office, rather rudely but he felt his mission was more important than the Hokage's pride now that he had secured a promise of aid from Konoha.

* * *

Walking the streets of Konoha looking for food to bring, Harry was assaulted by a wonderful smell and quickly followed it to its source; a small noodle-stand. A very energetic young man was stirring broth and humming happily behind the counter of the small stand. Harry made his way to the stand and greeted the man. "I want to buy all your noodles and hire your services for a while." Harry then took out a scroll and started writing up a blank banknote. Harry handed the shocked young man the note. "fill in what you think is fair when you next get to the bank as I don't know how long you will be gone for."

Harry didn't give the young man time to respond but quickly shrunk the stand, to the astonishment of the young man. Harry placed a stasis charm on the stand before gently picking it up and grabbing the bewildered man to apparate.

Harry Reappeared with a slightly sick and very confused young noodle chef on the beach where he left the survivors of Uzushio. Harry returned the noodle stand to its proper proportions and removed the stasis charm before turning to the confused young man.

"Hi, sorry about the abrupt relocation, what is your name?"

The bewildered young man jumped at being addressed before being able to fully take in what was happening but managed to get out a stuttered: "T-Teuchi"

"Nice to meet you Teuchi san, I'm Hikari and I brought you here to feed these people"

Harry gestured to the slowly gathering Uzushio refugees.

Teuchi finally noticing the scared and hurt people jumped again as the now named Hikari once more took his hand, reminding him of the blank banknote.

"as I mentioned, I'm hiring you as a catering service for this refugee relief effort. Now get moving while I set up the tables."

Teuchi took one last glance at the strange man before he ignored the impossibility of the last few minutes in favour of the clearly hurt and scared people on the beach. To reassure both himself and the refugees with some normalcy he went into full on sale mode.

"Step up for some Ramen! Only at Ichiraku's can you get a broth as good as this!"

As the refugees where momentarily distracted by the fragrant promise of food, Harry got busy transfiguring long picknick tables with benches and large straw parasols to seat the refugees as they were being fed.

Following this he looked to the injured, the distraction of food would filter out the less serious cases who might otherwise overwhelm him.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi had been on the move constantly for the last couple of hours, his Hokage had given him the mission to aid the refugees of Uzushio. coordinating the relief efforts and gathering the most skilled to aid in the current crisis had been quite a hassle but was nothing in comparison to trying to decipher the "map" he had been given by Tobirama. It must have been drawn in some haste as it only loosely could be called a map. Three times he had stopped to try a new location and the shinobi he had gathered were getting annoyed at him. Praying that this next stop would be the right one Hiruzen exited the thick forest onto a stony beach to his relief he had finally found the refugees, though not in the state he had expected…

It seemed they had managed to set up quite an extensive camp since coming ashore.

What drew the eye first had to be the massive polished wooden deck leading out into a small pier or jetty over the water.

There was a series of tents set up on the deck, some larger ones with clearly marked signage marking them as dining hall, restrooms or hospital. There were also many small tents, presumably for the refugees to get privacy.

"Are we sure these are the refugee's sensei?" Tsunade asked him, while pointing at a noodle stand.

An:

so why was Kushina there for the attack on Uzushio ?  
The Naruto timeline is really messed up and unclear but im working with that to my advantage :)

My reasoning is that, the simple fact of Harry being there and the rumors of the Uzumaki having the power to contract a powerful being from beyond was enough to speed up the timeline so Uzushio was attacked earlier.

Hope you enjoyed it but this is my first time trying to write anything creative so please give feedback!

Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Thanks for the continued support!  
Sorry about the reupload, I forgot that all the formatting gets thrown out the window when you upload to ffn :/

In this chapter we continue where chapter 1 left off.

* * *

Hikari no Konoha

Previously: _The young man made another vague hand gesture and the syrupy tart he had finished unpacking split into pieces, three of which began to hover toward each seated man and just as they were about to land, small flowery plates appeared beneath them._

" _Now, why have you come to visit?"_

* * *

Jiraya, having subtly checked the sweet for poison, was happily scarfing down the small piece of tart in front of him.

Kakashi, while still quite confounded nevertheless pushed onward.

"We are on a mission to gain the aid of one of Konoha's oldest allies and we have reason to believe that might be you."

The young man seemed to fold in on himself for a moment before refocusing.

"Well, you're not wrong. I suppose the time has come, what is it exactly you hope I will be able to help with?"

Kakashi was caught off guard at the lack of denial from the seeming youth who had gone to such lengths not to be found. - _Perhaps a stipulation of the "contract" the hokage had referenced?_

"Konoha has been struck by tragedy twice now in a short time and Fire country is in danger of being seen as a soft target for rival interests. It needs to reassert itself as a political power before our neighbours get any ideas of conquest."

Hikari scratched the back of his head reflexively as he thought about the issue at hand.

"I've never been one for politics but I'm willing to help anyway I can. I really should catch up with my beneficiaries anyway, how is the Uzumaki clan doing anyway?"

Jiraya froze with the last bit of tart halfway into his mouth and Kakashi stiffened visibly as he digested the weight of that offhanded statement.

"with the sheer number of them I brought over I suppose they must have their own compound by now?" _-how long has it been, twenty-eight years already?_

Kakashi was clearly about to reply when Jiraya appeared over his shoulder having covered Kakashi's mouth firmly.

"I-I think most turned civilian." Jiraya managed to get out with a strained smile, still keeping his hand firmly clasped on Kakashi's masked face, using morse code to convey a message to the younger shinobi. **"-This strange person is clearly not without power, having seen his inexplicable display, I don't want to risk angering him. Let the geezer take any potential fallout!"**

Hikari had always found shinobi to be quite eccentric and was slightly worried this behaviour was some new custom he had managed to miss in his self-imposed exile. Not wanting to appear stupid, he ignored it. Hikari quickly rose and sent the rest of the treacle tart hovering to his kitchen to keep it fresh.

"well who is the current clan-leader, who should I contact on my return?"

Jiraya kept his nervous smile fixed in place and managed to reply.

"Probably best to see the hokage first."

"I'm off then, you must be tired from your journey, please feel free to use my porch to recuperate."

"Wait- "Kakashi's interruption came a moment to late as the youth had once again vanished without a hint of movement.

* * *

Hikari Reappeared on top of the Hokage monument looking out over the village.

 _-Bollocks to that, I'm going to go looking for Uzumaki's myself._ He thought.

"Point me Uzumaki" Hikari felt a pull toward the centre of the village, he followed it without haste, apparating down and walking slowly to take in the changed village.

- _most of the buildings are new, I wonder what why?_

Strolling along, Hikari waved at some passers-by as he turned, he felt the pull grow stronger and he looked around to try and find the source.

His attention was drawn to a small orange blur bouncing across the rooftops ahead, seemingly fleeing from some kind of mortal peril.

Hikari had just managed to identify the orange blur as both a small child and the target of his point me spell. when he was prevented from acting on this new information by sudden finding himself practically submerged in tree sap. Freshly delivered by said blur, who unbeknownst to Hikari, was dumping the evidence of his latest prank on the mean adults of the village.

Hikari calmly turned in the direction of the pulling sensation indicating the culprit and with a gesture cast -Arresto Momentum and -Levicorpus, effectively halting the speedy child mid-air and suspending him upside down by his ankle. He followed this up with summoning the child to hang in front of him at eye level. By this time the child had managed to curse up quite the storm while futilely attempting to free himself from the invisible restraint on his ankle.

"What the hell is going on! Lemmego you bastards won't get me that easily!" The child reached into his back pocket as he started to drift backwards toward Hikari, pulling out a small ball and in a quite acrobatic movement managed to get enough leverage on the invisible restraint to lift himself over his ankle to throw it at Hikari.

Thankfully Hikari had managed to wipe his eyes clear of sap by this time and returned the ball with a banishing charm, straight between the child's eyes. The ball exploded on impact with the kid's brow and created a massive cloud of flour, obscuring everything from sight for a few moments.

"that wasn't very effective" Hikari spoke through the quickly dissipating cloud.

"I still win, flour is easier to clean!" The kid had a smirk on his face even as he hung upside down and pointed with certainty.

Hikari inspected his ruined clothes and looked up to return the smirk while casting -Evanesco.

"oh really?" he asked as the sap vanished, seemingly without him doing anything.

The child turned sullen at this and seemed to admit defeat.

"well ya caught me, what are you gonna do?"

"I'm thinking torture" The smirk on Hikari's face turned evil and all the shadows seemed to grow darker and lengthen.

The kid visibly gulped.

"the method of torture will be, conversation" Hikari cancelled the minor illusion to punctuate the joke.

This seemed ineffectual as the kid actually seemed even more horrified.

 _-Geeze, how hyper can a kid be?_

"Don't worry, this needn't take long. My name is Hikari, I am the Patron, umm let's go with… deity of the Uzumaki clan. I'm sure you have heard of m-."

"No" The kid interrupted abruptly.

"what do you mean no? aren't you a Uzumaki?"

"Of course I am! I'm Naruto Uzuma- Wait, how'd you know that?!"

"because I'm your patron deity. Has nobody taught you about your heritage?"

"No, the adults don't like me." There was a distinct tone of finality to the statement that led Hikari to believe this was something the kid had given up on trying to change.

"What is that supposed to mean? What about the other Uzumaki? Who is the current clan elder?" Hikari probed further.

Even as he spoke Hikari could see the frustration building up in the kid before he exploded.

"There are none! There is no clan! I've never even heard of anyone else with my clan name! I've always been alone! Everyone always treats me like I'm some kind of _freak_!"

The child was openly weeping now as he screamed his frustrations.

Hikari reeled at that, even centuries after his own abusive upbringing few things bothered him more than that word. Hikari released the spells holding the child in place and set him down gently on his feet and crouched down to place them at eyelevel. He slowly placed his hands on the kids shoulders to get his attention. "That is completely unacceptable."

The kid seemed taken off-guard by this and his eyes snapped back up to meet Hikari's.

"You need to know that none of that is your fault, anyone who can treat a kid that way is a bad person." Hikari asserted seriously, he knew first-hand the kind of long-term damage that kind of derision kan cause in a developing child.

The kid seemed chocked, he had probably never had anyone defend him like this.

"Now, as I have already asserted, I am your patron-deity and if what you say is true and you really are the last Uzumaki. That means that me being able to stay in this realm is contingent on your wellbeing."

The kid still seemed suspicious and confused. It wouldn't matter, one way or another he would have time to earn the kid's trust.

Hikari sighed and stood back up, keeping a hand on the kid's shoulder.

"Let's go have a talk with the people in charge, they have very clearly done wrong by you. Hold your breath or this will be quite uncomfortable."

"What will be?" the kid seemed strangely afraid.

"My rather unique method of getting around." Hikari thought of a quote from a book he read, hopefully it would catch the kid off guard to ease the transition.

" _It's unpleasantly like being drunk."  
"What's so unpleasant about being drunk?" _the kid suddenly seemed very confused. _  
"You ask a glass of water."_

Hikari waited a short moment as he felt the kid relax before disapparating.

* * *

Naruto was pretty shaken, he didn't know that stuff had bothered him so much. Having a stranger claim he was part of a large clan and assuming his life was perfect had brought up some really heavy stuff he didn't know he had been carrying. Furthermore, this strange adult didn't even seem angry at the prank, in fact he had treated it like a game of parry and riposte.

He was brought out of his dark thoughts when he felt a gentle hand land on his shoulder, he hadn't even realized the stranger had returned him to the ground. Naruto refused to look up for a moment, he was strangely ashamed of showing his weakness. He refused to show his tearstained cheeks, to reveal how much he had really been affected by the stranger's words. Naruto was forced to look up however when the stranger spoke again.

"That is completely unacceptable."

Naruto was floored, surely this was a trick, adults never defended him, they always assumed the worst of him. Naruto searched the strange man's eyes for any hint of insincerity to his words, but to his surprise he only found serious compassion.

The adult, Hikari was it? Seemed to deflate a little and once more stretched to his full length. Naruto watched as his compassionate eyes turned hard before he continued seriously.

"Let's go have a talk with the people in charge, they have very clearly done wrong by you. Hold your breath or this will be quite uncomfortable."

"What will be?" When he heard that word he was instantly weary, was the adult going to punish him after all?

"My rather unique method of getting around." The adult suddenly got a strange smirk and continued.

" _It's unpleasantly like being drunk."  
"What's so unpleasant about being drunk?"_ Naruto knew adults got drunk to relax and have fun, though he had no idea what it was like.  
 _"You ask a glass of water."_

The smirk had grown to a full grin by now, was he making jokes? Naruto relaxed involuntarily as the serious atmosphere was dissipated. He didn't have any time to consider how to react before he was overcome by a sudden squeezing feeling, he felt himself get impossibly longer, like he was being violently pulled through a very long and thin straw. Before he could think he found himself in the hokage's office, across the desk from gramps who wore an incredibly shocked expression. He almost laughed at the sight before sudden vertigo overtook him from the god-awful transportation, and he fell to his hands and knees to empty his stomach.

By the time he recovered a lot had changed, the office was now filled with men in black robes and creepy animal masks, all strangely frozen with weapons drawn. Hikari was bent over with a hand planted firmly on the desk and his other pointed threateningly at gramps, he was yelling furiously at the old man.

"YOU ABSOLUTE ARSE, HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?!"  
Naruto must have missed the start of the conversation.  
"HOW COULD YOU LET A CHILD BE TREATED THIS WAY!?"  
Wait, were they talking about him?

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN "THE GREATER GOOD"?!"  
What is going on? Gramps isn't responding but there seems to be some kind of back and forth going on.

* * *

 _Hikari's perspective_

Upon reappearing in the office of the current Hokage, Hikari only had a split second to savour the shocked look on the old man's face before the office was swarmed with the Hokage's Anbu bodyguards. He had no chance to react before he had several sharp weapons at his throat. Thankfully, they would not attack unless he proved hostile.

The old man across the desk leaned back with a smirk on his face. "Who are you and why have you invaded my office, your response will determine your fate, we do not negotiate with hostage-takers. He gestured to the kid, currently busy emptying his stomach on the floor.

Hikari didn't like the superiority the old man was displaying and decided to take control of the situation. Hikari gathered his power and with a twitch of his finger he sent a modified Full-body bind in a wide wave at chest height, effectively paralysing all the other adults in the room.

Hikari quickly advanced, ducking under a frozen blade and planted both hands on the desk before leaning forward to fix the old man with a penetrating gaze.

"You sent for me, your white-haired emissaries found me to enforce the contract. Unfortunately for you, I came across some information indicating you haven't held up your side of the contract. I really don't like to do this, but I don't believe you would give me the full truth if I gave you a choice in the matter."

Hikari gestured with his hand and cast Legilimens to enter the old man's mind.

"Why does Naruto think he's the last Uzumaki?"  
The question brought the relevant memories, starting with the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha and Naruto's birth.

"Were you aware how he is being treated?"  
Once more he was shown memories in quickfire, Conversations with the Anbu guards watching Naruto, telling him how he was slowly being more and more ostracized going back as far as his time in the orphanage and continuing to this day.

Hikari was quickly reaching his boiling point and could not contain his own emotional outburst as he realized the extent of the old man's neglect.

YOU ABSOLUTE ARSE, HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?!"  
"HOW COULD YOU LET A CHILD BE TREATED THIS WAY!?"  
This time Hikari was shown how the old man was justifying every continuous small incident as helping the child grow stronger, more independent, all the while keeping him hidden. Telling himself that it was all for the good of the village.

Hikari lost himself a little at this point, seeing another well-meaning old man in the actions and mindset of the man before him.  
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN "THE GREATER GOOD"?!"  
"YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH EVIL IS DONE FOR "THE GREATER GOOD", NOBODY THINKS THEY ARE THE VILLAIN!"

"HOW DID YOU HOPE TO KEEP THIS A SECRET?!"

"A LAW? MAKING IT A LAW TO KEEP THE SECRET WOULD MEAN EVERYONE HAS TO KNOW THE SECRET, THEN IT'S NOT A SECRET ANYMORE!"  
"HOW COULD ANYONE BE SO INFURIATINGLY STUPID?!"

"WHAT OF THE CHILD'S FAMILY? HIS CLAN!?" Hikari probed, what happened to all the refugees from Uzushio?

He was shown how the second shinobi world war had weakened Konoha, how the old man before him, having just been made Hokage, learned about the contract, binding a powerful ally to Konoha, on the condition that the refugees from Uzushio and their lineages were protected and guaranteed to continue.  
With this new information he made the decision to send the few remaining survivors of Uzushio into hiding under new identities across the elemental kingdoms. All in an effort to keep the contract that bound Hikari from ever being broken.  
"YOU SENT THEM AWAY?! SCATTERED THEM, MADE THEM REFUGEES AGAIN?!"  
"YOU ARE LUCKY YOU ONLY BROKE THE SPIRIT OF THE CONTRACT AND NOT THE LITERAL MEANING!"

Hikari broke eye contact, releasing the connection to the old man's mind.

Of course, the Hokage wasn't aware of the original contract, the one Hikari had made with the Uzumaki clan, the only thing keeping him from being sent back to the dust ball that the earth had been transformed into. The original contract bound Hikari, not to the Uzumaki bloodline, but to the clan itself. This was a very minor difference when the contract was signed, the clan and the family being very much the same thing. Unfortunately, the wording of the contract meant that Hikari's continued stay in this dimension relied not on the bloodline to continue, but the name.

Hikari sighed, the extended use of legilimancy and rush of new memories was quickly giving him a headache. He didn't like how he much the thought of being forced back to earth had affected him.  
He had come to really love his new life in the elemental kingdoms and quickly realized he would do anything to protect it. Then there was the issue with Naruto. Hikari could never let the kid grow up neglected and shunned after all he had learned, regardless that the kid's continued safety was now the lynchpin keeping him here.

Hikari took a moment and collected himself before continuing.

"Regardless of my feelings on the matter, you haven't broken the contract so I'm yours to command, I will help in any way I can." Hikari refocused, once more pinning the old man with his gaze.

"However, because of your actions, my aid will be conditional. The original contract, keeping me in this realm is contingent on the continuation of the Uzumaki clan." Hikari gestured to Naruto, who had been following the seeming one-sided exchange intensely.

Hikari took a moment to vanish the vomit on the floor before turning fully to Naruto.

"I know this is a lot to take in at once Naruto, but all you really need to know is this."

"Long, long ago, before Konoha existed, your clan summoned me. We made a contract; this contract lets me stay in your realm on the condition that your clan lives on."

Hikari walked over and placed a hand on the kid's shoulder, forcing him to meet his gaze.

"This means. From now on, you have me, I will never betray you, not for anyone."

"No matter what happens, I will only ever want the best for you. Because without you, I disappear, gone from this wonderful world forever." Hikari wanted to give the kid a moment to let that sink in so he faced the old man once more before releasing the paralysis.

The Hokage quickly caught himself and dismissed the gathered Anbu with a subtle gesture before they could act rashly.

Hikari could see him gathering his thoughts on the events of the last few minutes and decided to direct his attention to what he needed to discuss.

"So, you see Hokage, I will help you because I must, but not before I am thoroughly assured of Naruto's best interest."


	4. Chapter 4

AN: well, I was not expecting people to actually like this and did not have notifications on.  
Thanks for your support and sorry for taking so long!  
your feedback got me writing again so, thanks for that as well!

* * *

To ensure Naruto's wellbeing, I will have to find him a family. I would screw him up too much were I to try and raise him myself…

A unsettling grin spread across his face as he continued.

"I will give you a month to plot your plan to reinforce the notion of Konoha's might to the other villages, meanwhile I will take Naruto to find him his clan."

A whole second of baffled silence passed before both the Hokage and kid attempted to speak at once.

"Absolutely Not!"

"what do you mea-"

Hikari however, had already grabbed the kid and disappeared again.

* * *

Hiruzen was stunned, he had just learned a lot of unexpected information, the old teacher's mind was quick to distil the most pertinent details.

The ally from the contract was real, Kakashi and Jiraya had clearly found him.  
He was still youthful after all this time.  
He could possessed a space-time jutsu or similar technique to travel instantly.  
He held tremendous power, to disable a full Anbu squad with the flick of a finger.  
He could read minds, dangerous.  
He clearly felt strongly about the Uzumaki clan, and the treatment of children in general.  
There was a separate, older, contract with them keeping him in the elemental kingdoms.  
He really did not appear happy about the prospect of being sent back where he came from.  
This was a weakness to be exploited in a worst case scenario.

A sudden rushing of air interrupted his thoughts as a small messenger dog appeared with a scroll in its mouth.  
Hiruzen quickly unfurled the scroll and read through it.

Objective complete

-Target is young, male, green eyes, black hair. Last seen wearing a open white Haori without undershirt, chest-tattoo.

-Target on his way to you.

-Target admitted to possessing unknown bloodline-limit, possibly space-time manipulation of some kind.

-Target mentioned addiction to syrup, sample gathered for analysis.

-Target concerned with the Uzumaki, caution is advised.

/Inu

While Informative, the message from Kakashi changed little.

The fact that the stranger had managed to travel to Konoha, find the last Uzumaki and reach the Hokage's office before Kakashi's messenger-hound certainly reinforced the idea of him using a space-time jutsu. The mention of a syrup addiction was most likely pointless to follow up on but Kakashi was diligent as always.

Hiruzen pressed his palm to the seal on the message, pushing his chakra into it to release its contents.

He was not happy to find that Inu had failed to find a container for the pastry contained within as it splattered across his chest and arm when it was forced to occupy the limited space between his palm and the paper.

"I suppose this is how he shows his displeasure at the assignment, Jiraya was always a bad influence..."

The Hokage sighed deeply and continued to ponder the events as he started to clean himself of the dark molasses.

The mention of the abilities being a bloodline-limit was incredibly useful though, he would have to hold off on punishing Inu's impertinence.  
He quickly penned a response to recall Inu and Jiraya for a full debriefing and sent it back with the messenger-hound.

Plans to exploit this situation were already forming in the Hokage's mind.

* * *

The kid looked a lot less shook when they reappeared this time, he was squatting and taking deep breaths between his knees, trying to settle his no doubt uneasy stomach.

"It gets easier as you get used to it"

The kid looked up sharply, distrust in his eyes.

"Look, it's a lot to take In, I get that… Let's just start slow, anything you wanna ask I'll answer honestly."

The kid had managed to steady himself and tore his eyes from the man to check his new surroundings. He seemed slightly uneasy as he looked around His own apartment. Hikari picked up on the reason behind his trepidation.

"Sorry, I had unwanted guests at my place and figured we could talk undisturbed here. Besides, I don't want to scare the old man more than I need to, his people will most likely be reporting that we haven't left the village soon."

The kid gave him a incredulous look and he sighed. Hikari directed him to the couch in the kitchen and they sat down around the table.

"Yeah, I had a look in your head to find this place… don't worry, I don't do that unless I need to."

The kid looked slightly mollified at his words and spoke with trepidation in his voice.

"Is it really true that you will die if I do?"

"well, no… I'm not sure I can die, but my fate would be worse. I would be sent back to where I came from."

Harry sighed as he decided to be as candid as possible, he would need the child to trust him.

"I went through some really fucked up shit when I was young, I even started to think of myself as fates bitch at some point. Heh, I'm not even sure fate has sentience but if death can, why not. I imagine it found toying with me was quite amusing if it indeed does…"

Hikari took a deep breath and continued in a more sober tone.

"Sorry, I'm rambling, what I am trying to say is that through all that shit I managed to become something more than human and time would not touch me. I no longer needed food or sleep."

"Sure, it was amusing sometimes, running around and fixing things but shit always seems to escalate and pretty soon It was more than I could stop… My home was actually a lot like this world, populated by humans. humans are quite wonderous you know, capable of immense good and incredible feats of ingenuity but also constantly tainted by selfishness and spots of unspeakable evil. In the end they had almost reached the stars, some found that to be a great thing, others decided it was an abomination against their gods and the earth itself. There was an attack on the council gathered to mediate between the major factions… They were annihilated and no one would claim responsibility. This only inflamed the conflict and before anyone realised it was too late to go back, each side had retaliated in their own ways and too much hate had gathered in the survivors hearts to even consider peace. The world was consumed by war and the last humans died within a few short decades."

Hikari looked closely at Naruto to see that he was following his tale.

"Their weapons had grown so large in number and so terrible that they boiled the oceans away in a final conflagration… The last surviving humans died on space stations or deep underground a few months later when supplies could no longer reach them."

Hikari found he was trembling a little as he continued.

"The worst part was that I missed it, the passage of time means nothing when you are immortal and human concerns seem petty when you don't have needs. I had grown arrogant and lax in the life of a hermit. Not even my home could withstand the conflagration and I was left with nothing... I was alone then, in this wasteland. A whole world of nothing but rocks and desert. That's what I would have to return to."

Hikari could see the kid had paled considerably at the end of his explanation.

"Sorry, but I did promise to be honest… I trust you understand that I am serious when I say that your safety is my first priority now. I would not relegate anyone to the hell I have experienced…"

Naruto was seriously shaken by the end of the explanation, but despite its incredible nature he could not find himself to doubt the truth of the tale, as much as he would want to.

The sincerity he felt in the man's words, the way he was clearly affected by remembering the retelling kept Naruto from screaming his disbelief. He also remembered the way the man had reassured him earlier; how angry he had been on Naruto's behalf.

He had learned early not to trust anyone but himself and a large part of him was weary of putting his trust in this stranger. A deeper part, a more primal need to belong however was screaming in elation and fighting against his nature. This person had defended him, clearly been angry on his behalf and if he was telling the truth would be unable to betray him.

With a tremble in his voice he decided to give the man a chance.

"Y-You said you would find my family… How do-" Naruto was interrupted by a monstrous growling as his stomach rumbled loudly. He blushed and looked down only to be surprised by a heartfelt laughter.

"AHAhahaha, I guess I did make you lose your lunch on the Hokage's floor. Sorry about that how about we plan while we eat?" The man looked relieved the tension had been broken.

"I doubt you have anything substantial here and don't want to subject you to more apparitions than necessary so why don't we walk someplace and eat out tonight?"

Naruto was immediately onboard, his Ramen-sense was tingling, and he dove on the chance for some Ichiraku.

"I know just the place, It's the best food in the universe!" Naruto was already up and dragging the man by the hand. No discomfort or heavy thoughts would stop him from getting his Ramen-fix.

Pretty soon they had reached the small stand the Ichiraku's where running near his home. Naruto knew Ayame was training to take over the main branch and it would only be old man-Teuchi running the small stand this week.

Naruto was quick to duck under the cloth-overhang and jump up to grab a seat.

"Old man-Teuchi! Two Jumbo Miso-ramen please!"

Teuchi grumbled good-naturedly and turned around with a grin.

"Naruto-kun, I know you spent the last of your allowance two days ago, did you con someone to give you an advance?" as he turned fully he noticed the newcomer lift up the cloth and smiling at the kid.

"Irrashaima-" the customary greeting died on his tongue as he recognized the newcomer, how could he not. He looked exactly as he had all those years ago when he single-handedly gave him enough work to open his first restaurant. That incident had given him enough goodwill, popularity and exposure that he could turn his restaurant into a chain within five short years.

"I-It, Is it really you?..."

Hikari looked up and after a moment of consideration a veritable light-bulb lit as he recognized the, now much older, ramen salesman.

"Yo, Teuchi-san, Long time!"

A few speechless moments passed before he was ushered to sit and promptly told his money was no good at any Ichiraku branch. Naruto's respect for the man rose quickly as he looked on with wide eyes and he realized this man, Hikari, had achieved his secret dream, free Ramen for life.

* * *

After a few bowls of Ramen, they had started discussing the future and Naruto had revealed his dream to become the Hokage. Hikari decided this was an opportunity to gain the kid's cooperation. He suggested he help the kid achieve his dream and in return asked the kid to help him stay by reforming the Uzumaki as an official clan of Konoha and helping him make sure it would be around for a long time. Naruto saw this only as a positive thing and accepted, eager for the help to get stronger and the silent wish for family in the future.

Hikari was pondering the question when he decided to play a bit of a prank on their ANBU guard while also laying the groundwork for his future discussion with the Hokage.

"Now, how can we lay the foundation to make your clan survive for thousands of years and also achieve your goal of becoming Hokage? Hmm, a Hokage is typically the strongest, most respected Ninja in Konoha…"

Hikari snapped his fingers, seemingly having come to a conclusion.

"We're getting you a harem!"

The plainclothes ANBU sent to monitor the jinchuriki spluttered, spraying Teuchi with broth.  
Naruto looked over with wide eyes. "What's that? A secret jutsu? Will it make me stronger!? I need to be awesome to become the Hokage!"

Hikari took a moment to enjoy the ANBU agent's misfortune as he pretended to ponder the innocent question. "hmm, not a secret technique exactly, but it should be excellent training so It should make you quite awesome… All men are impressed with someone who manages to keep a harem!" Hikari nodded wisely.

Naruto seemed quite enthused at this "How soon can we start this training? How does it work!?"

Teuchi had managed to dry his face by this point and was quite obviously holding back laughter.

Hikari winked at him as he once more pretended to consider for a moment. "Hmm, you should probably be a bit older, maturity is important to navigate the treacherous path of a Harem Master…"  
For some reason even Naruto seemed to pick up on the capitalisation of this seemingly prestigious title. "In order to be recognized as a true Harem Master you must be able to keep several girls happy at the same time, it is not to be underestimated…"

Naruto exclaimed "What do you mean?! I don't even like girls! They hate getting dirty and won't play with me! How are they supposed to make me stronger?!"

"Don't be foolish! Nothing is scarier than a angry woman!" even the ANBU was in on it now.

Teuchi nodded wisely, "There is an ancient saying brought down by the first Ninja, the sage of six-paths, 'Hell hath no fury, like a woman scorned'. Even he, foremost among Ninja knew the danger a Harem Master must navigate."

The men all nodded.

Naruto had been vibrating in his chair from excitement whilst listening to Teuchi and suddenly shot to his feet, jumping up on the stool and thrusting his fist into the air.

"AAAlright! I've decided! I Naruto Uzumaki will become a Harem Master to make people acknowledge me so I can become the Hokage!"

A couple of middle-aged housewives passing by were stopped in their tracks at his loud proclamation and immediately started throwing foul glances and disparaging remarks as they hurried on.

"What filth!" "It the demon-fox what could you expect." "Horrible child!"

The men all ducked their heads in embarrassment and Hikari pulled Naruto down, cautioning him.

"Your resolve is great, and will no doubt be needed but you should never let people know about your wish to become a Harem Master. They will spread vicious rumours about you and try to keep you from achieving it due to their own jealousy."

Naruto nodded as seriously as only a child can and pledged to keep it a secret. "I'm looking forward to your instruction."

Hikari ruffled his hair affectionately and turned back to the counter, pretending not to notice the blush and warm grin growing on Naruto's face.

* * *

Hikari had decided the first part of safety and longevity was self-defence, he knew his perspective was a little skewed from his own traumatic upbringing but did not care much. That's why he decided to start training Naruto in the best way he could. When he used a medical spell to scan the kid and analyse the kid's chakra he came upon a startling realization, he had to damned much of the stuff. No wonder he was always bouncing off the walls like a superball in a dryer. First step would have to be to get the kid to learn to properly channel it.

"well… Bad news or good news first?"

Naruto was getting nervous; the man had a bit of a shocked expression as he looked over him after using some weird jutsu.

"G-good please…"

"You are gonna be one bad-ass shinobi, capable of the most amazing shit one day!"

Naruto was jumping up and down and shouting in excitement "Waaah! Seriously! Sugoi! I knew I was awesome!.. wait, what's the bad news then?"

"You are going to suck unless you learn how to sit still…"

Naruto promptly felt all his good cheer leave him…"No… You Lie! That's impossible… Y-You cant force me!"

* * *

Unfortunately Hikari found he had no reliable way to track the scattered survivors of whirlpool.  
As they had all given up the name Uzumaki to be able to hide and integrate he could not use it as a tracking vector. Blood was also out, he tried with a drop the kid donated but the corrupting effect of the kyuubi's presence seemed to have changed his blood enough that he could not find anyone that way. Hikari would have to rely on the Hokage's spies for now. Anyone who did not consider themselves a Uzumaki would not notify him through his pledge to protect them either.

As he was considering this he was occasionally checking in on the kid's progress in meditation. It was not going well, that kid had more energy than a ferret with ten cups of coffee in its system. He had been forced to use a modified leg lock jinx to make the child motionless in the lotus position. Even then he had somehow managed to vibrate through sheer boredom. The child was getting so frustrated he was not even trying to meditate, It was impossible for Hikari to not pick up on the kid's thoughts when they where so filled with vitriol and aimed at him.

Hikari was about to release the kid and give it up for the day when a second voice appeared in the kid's head, startling them both with its abrupt presence.

 **"BRAT! I can help you, release my seal and I will crush him for you! I will give you the power to break these chains and destroy your tormentor!"**

Hikari felt a chill go down his spine as he realized what was happening and quickly opened the kid's eye and cast Legilimens to enter the kid's mindscape.

He found himself in a sewer-tunnel and was confronted by a massive gate and red glowing eyes...


End file.
